How to align 3-LNB sat dish with a meter??

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

I'm not sure this is the best forum for this question, but the
satellite-specific forum I found seemed to be full of people trying to
get satellite signals for free with black-market equipment, so thought
I'd try here instead...

I have a 3-LNB multisatellite dish used with DirecTV. It's very tough
for me to align it correctly to all 3 satellites, with me on the roof
and my wife attempting to communicate what the on-screen signal meters
are showing two floors down.

So I've been looking for a meter or something I can use up on the roof
to allow me to see exactly what's happening as I align it. I've found
several, ranging from about $25 up to a couple of thousand dollars, and
naturally, the $25 version is the one I'd like.

But I can't see how you align a multisatellite dish using one of these
meters. It's a simple analog needle meter, with a coax input and
output, along with a dial that appears to set the needle's current
reading. I don't see anyway to tell the meter WHICH satellite you're
currently trying to align to. For instance, when using the sat
receiver's on-screen meters, you have to manually switch it from Sat A,
to Sat B, to Sat C to make the adjustments for each satellite. I assume
each is delivering a different frequency to the receiver, and you're
picking which one of those frequencies to monitor.

But there doesn't appear to be any way to set or adjust this on one of
these little meters. So I assume what you will be looking at one the
meter is always the composite of all three satellites, which really
won't work for alignment. On one of the web sites for these things, I
saw an explanation that said you "simply hook it to one LNB, peak the
signal, then hook it to the next LNB". But I don't see how to do that
either...my dish has four outputs, but those are for four different
receivers. Each output would carry the signal from all three LNBs. I
don't see a way to connect to a single LNB at a time for alignment
purposes.

So does anyone know how you could align a dish like mine, using one of
these meters? Or is there another alternative?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

In article <MPG.1b13f2a2ecf28efe989685@news1.prserv.net>,
ive_been_mugged@takethisout.yahoo.com says...
> But I can't see how you align a multisatellite dish using one of these
> meters. It's a simple analog needle meter, with a coax input and
> output, along with a dial that appears to set the needle's current
> reading. I don't see anyway to tell the meter WHICH satellite you're
> currently trying to align to.

You need the next step up in meters. These will have a swtich or
other means of selecting which sat and even or odd trasnponders. One
of the nicer ones has a pair of bar graphs and reads two satellites
at once. There was a recent post (early May) which has a URL. Sorry
I don't have time to look for it right now.

The meter has to apply voltages to the coax input (just like your
receiver) to select which sat (ie, which LNB) so if it's non-
switchable, it just reading one sat and one set of transponders

/Chris

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Morbius" <ive_been_mugged@takethisout.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1b13f2a2ecf28efe989685@news1.prserv.net...
>
> I'm not sure this is the best forum for this question, but the
> satellite-specific forum I found seemed to be full of people trying to
> get satellite signals for free with black-market equipment, so thought
> I'd try here instead...

---Snip---

1. What do local installers charge for an alignment? It might be less that
you would spend for equipment.

2. If it's not urgent, you could sign up for the DTV protection plan and
wait the 30 days before calling for a free alignment.

For more suggestions try posting to rec.video.satellite.dbs

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

My dish was professionally installed in the winter months, once the
leaves came back on the trees, my 119 Bird was dropping below 70
constantly. I already had one of those cheap satellite signal strength
meters. This one has a dial on it to adjust the gain on the meter...
The meter uses the power of the receiver but there is no need to move
the receiver from your entertainment center. It beeps louder or softer
and has a needle guage that moves depending on the signal. I allready
had somewhat of a signal so once the meter was inline I adjusted the
dial to a point where the needle was only reading half on the guage, in
turn I would notice the small differences in signal strengths when I
adjusted the dish. Well, it worked, I increased my signal by 10 points
by myself and notice much less rain fade and signal loss. Even though
these meters are cheap, you can use them very effectively to align your
dish. Just takes a little bit more patience. Obviously being able to
see all three BIRD strength at the same time would be sweet but Im not
forking out over a hundred bucks for something I will use maybe twice.


--
nytevizion
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[Alan]

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

You can use the cheap meter. The steps to find the correct satellite is the
same for all meters.

First, check the azmuth, elevation and skew or tilt settings for your zip
code on your satellite receiver.

Make sure your mast is perfectly plumb (if it is not, you will have trouble
finding satellites)

Set the tilt or skew setting on the dish, and set the elevation setting.
You will not need to further adjust the tilt or skew, so you can lock this
down tight. The elevation setting you will tweak later.

With your compass, find a landmark in the distance that lines up with your
particular compass setting. For instance, 101WL (DirecTV) in my area is 193
degrees. You will use that landmark in a moment. My suggestion is to use
the core location to aim your dish. 101 WL for DirecTV and 119 WL for DISH
Network.

Place your meter inline, and point your antenna in the general location of
your landmark. Slowly move antenna until your meter peaks. Slightly
tighten to the mast. Lightly pull back on the top and bottom of the antenna
and see if the strength goes up or down. Adjust your elevation settings
accordingly, and lock down the dish antenna. Check your signal strength
meter on your satellite receiver, you should be all set.

Where most people make a mistake is they let the multisatellite function
overwhelm them. Remember, if your mast is plumb, and the correct elevation
and tilt or skew is set for the antenna, you should hit the correct
satellite location every time. If you are having to go back and make
significant adjustment to these settings, you either have the wrong
satellite, or your mast is not plumb.

Best of Luck!

Alan
"Morbius" <ive_been_mugged@takethisout.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1b13f2a2ecf28efe989685@news1.prserv.net...
>
> I'm not sure this is the best forum for this question, but the
> satellite-specific forum I found seemed to be full of people trying to
> get satellite signals for free with black-market equipment, so thought
> I'd try here instead...
>
> I have a 3-LNB multisatellite dish used with DirecTV. It's very tough
> for me to align it correctly to all 3 satellites, with me on the roof
> and my wife attempting to communicate what the on-screen signal meters
> are showing two floors down.
>
> So I've been looking for a meter or something I can use up on the roof
> to allow me to see exactly what's happening as I align it. I've found
> several, ranging from about $25 up to a couple of thousand dollars, and
> naturally, the $25 version is the one I'd like.
>
> But I can't see how you align a multisatellite dish using one of these
> meters. It's a simple analog needle meter, with a coax input and
> output, along with a dial that appears to set the needle's current
> reading. I don't see anyway to tell the meter WHICH satellite you're
> currently trying to align to. For instance, when using the sat
> receiver's on-screen meters, you have to manually switch it from Sat A,
> to Sat B, to Sat C to make the adjustments for each satellite. I assume
> each is delivering a different frequency to the receiver, and you're
> picking which one of those frequencies to monitor.
>
> But there doesn't appear to be any way to set or adjust this on one of
> these little meters. So I assume what you will be looking at one the
> meter is always the composite of all three satellites, which really
> won't work for alignment. On one of the web sites for these things, I
> saw an explanation that said you "simply hook it to one LNB, peak the
> signal, then hook it to the next LNB". But I don't see how to do that
> either...my dish has four outputs, but those are for four different
> receivers. Each output would carry the signal from all three LNBs. I
> don't see a way to connect to a single LNB at a time for alignment
> purposes.
>
> So does anyone know how you could align a dish like mine, using one of
> these meters? Or is there another alternative?